Shades of Doubt
by UltimateParadox
Summary: Being a genius with knowledge of humanity's downfall is a burden that weighs heavily on even the sharpest of minds. Oneshot.


**Shades of Doubt**

Hope startled a little when Noel slapped the tiny crystal into his hand, gloves clapping painlessly together, but he didn't have enough time to react before the hunter was escaping out the door at Serah's heels. He frowned a little, but he couldn't fight the amusement that washed over him over Noel's unexplained, childish actions. It cut through his researcher-in-a-funk attitude that had been hovering around him like a second shadow, but he hadn't noticed until his mood lifted that he'd been drowning in the sea of crucial experimentation.

It wasn't like he had to perfect the time capsule. He could set it to wake him up one hundred years from now easily and swiftly. Getting the graviton cores and completing the necessities on the new Cocoon (the project's working title, simply Cocoon v.2, didn't hold up in proper conversation, and he still hadn't come up with a proper name for his ultimate reconstruction), was draining and put his brain to the test. He had two time limits, his own lifespan and one hundred years, and if everything wasn't guaranteed to work perfectly—Hope had nightmares, sometimes, that he'd failed with Cocoon v.2, that mankind would be decimated and both Cocoon and Gran Pulse would be nothing but wasteland.

Alyssa never commented on the dark rings around his eyes on the nights when he couldn't get back to sleep, but made sure she kept a watchful eye on his calculations and figures. It was bothersome the first time he noticed he was being babysat, but when Hope realized that Alyssa was keeping him accurately on task, he grew more appreciative of her tireless efforts.

He rolled the crystal around in his fingers, the brown thing translucent, round as a marble. It was practically weightless, he probably wouldn't feel it come back down if he tossed it up into the air to catch it. Hope was tempted to test the theory, scientist in him be damned because this had nothing to do with feeding his appetite for knowledge, just childish curiosity he hadn't felt since before that fated, terrible trip to Bodhum. Unwilling to risk losing the little orb in the dark observatory, Hope walked leisurely out of the room. The halls inside the Academy main building were chilled and practically empty—the buzz of workers long gone to watch a presentation on a side project's beta-run, something Hope didn't care about much. Cocoon v.2 was taking up his life, coming to life into the real world. With Noel and Serah out in the timestream collecting the cores he needed, his new world would no longer be a conceptualized dream, but a reality born from the magic of the human will.

Hope stepped out into the fresh air and light, left the constricting world of science behind for a moment, and couldn't stop the smile on his face. While Academia was hardly a place of epic adventure, he was struck with just a moment of nostalgia. Camping out in the wilds of Gran Pulse didn't seem quite so far off as it really was, the world teeming with both examples of amazing beauty and dreaded destruction. Surely the monsters that fought for survival on the plains hadn't been Hope's favorite thing about the wilderness, but the closeness it wrought with his fellow companions was endearing. This nostalgia was familial, told of encouraging hugs and too-cramped sleeping arrangements, but he was happy with those he was close to.

_but Vanille and Fang and Lightning...!_

Cocoon v.2 had to be absolutely perfect. Noel and Serah would need to pull their part off without flaw as well, and he had more than enough faith in them to rectify time, but the _pressure_...

No, Hope hadn't escaped from the dark recesses of HQ to distress himself further. He had arrived with purpose, and so he took the crystal and help it up to the light shining down from the blue sky. Just as he'd seen Cocoon's petrified body and cradle shimmer and glisten in ways no poet could hope to describe when the sun caught it right, the brown crystal seemed to come alive. The muddy color vanished when the light passed through, turning the entire crystal a stunning, golden hue, and Hope positively beamed.

"Wow!" a woman passing by stopped in her tracks to exclaim. Hope turned his gaze upon her, saw the way her eyes lit up with wonderment and a tinge of envy. "I wish I had a stone that nice!"

Hope didn't want to tell her that in the shadows it looked like a rock, plain and simple, so instead he told her, "I'm hanging onto this for a friend. He has good taste."

"Oh, for sure," she praised, gave him a sudden appraising look, and smiled when she seemed to like what she saw before continuing on her way. Hope ignored it—he'd been surprised when, at 18 and having filled in more, the girls around him would give him looks so lecherous, and had been just as flustered and bashful as he'd been at fourteen when he realized what they wanted from him. Now, though, he'd learned how to deal with their hawking, and he was sure he was as masterful at giving them a kind brush off as Snow was at rushing into things without care.

Hope chuckled. Snow was a thick-headed tank of a man, but he really wasn't so bad. Snow had taught him a lot of things during their impromptu adventure, through the ups and downs, the hatred and ecstasy. Life lessons about loyalty and strength that even his attachment to Lightning couldn't teach. They were like older siblings, he thought, constantly having fits with each other, but in the end they stood side by side to defend what was important to them.

Hope didn't have a lot of important things left. 400 years ahead of his time, he had Alyssa Zydell, wonderful girl that she was, and was comforted that Serah had managed to pull herself through the rifts of time to see him again. She'd brought Noel, too, a new person that Hope wouldn't let be lost in time like so many others, and Mog, an honest to goodness moogle that reminded him of Carbuncle, the little creature celebrated in the former glory days of Cocoon. Cocoon v.2, another importance, would last the century, and he wouldn't let that fall.

Brightened mood suddenly dimming, Hope brought his arm down and rolled the crystal, brown in the shadows, in his palm. Three people, a moogle, and a plan were all he had left to protect. No, that was wrong—the plan would protect _everyone_.

Sometimes that was the only thing that propelled him out of bed in the morning.

Running footsteps met Hope's ears and he pivoted his stare straight at the walkways. He saw the glowing bobble before he saw them, but Hope wasn't surprised to see the time traveling trio back so soon after departing.

Serah met him first, but Hope barely heard her greeting as he examined her. Iconic pink hair, usually tied into a tight tail, hung loose from its decoration, frazzled and charred at the end. Dirt smeared her skin and clothes. "Wh-what happened?" he stuttered awkwardly. When they'd left they'd been _fine_.

Noel, coming up behind her and swatting distractedly at Mog as the little thing kept giggling in his ear and swiping his hair around with his clock, looking in no greater condition than Serah, answered with an annoyed scowl. "A whole lot of nothing happened, and you two better not tell anyone otherwise."

(Later, when Noel showered the muck off of himself, Serah and Mog regaled him, giggling all the while, with a tale of overly ripened and angry flanbaneros, an overconfident hunter, snarling vines in Sunleth, and a fight that tested Serah's abilities as a white mage.)

Serah laughed a little, her laugh a cute, tinkling thing, and gave Noel a smile that reminded Hope painfully of Lightning. She'd given it to him in brief flashes when she thought he wouldn't notice, like a proud older sister, and Hope to had wonder what it was about Farron girls that made others feel like family. "Oh, hush." Attention now directed back to Hope, she asked, "How long have we been gone this time?"

Hope thought about it. "At the most...maybe ten minutes. And that might be a liberal assessment."

"Feels like we've been gone for hours," Noel groused.

"We have been gone for hours, but also for a liberal ten minutes."

"Time travel makes no sense."

"Stop it, Noel, I know you already understand it. You could write books on the subject. You're just grumpy because of the fla—"

"So," Noel interrupted his own conversation, brushing by Serah and pointedly not looking at her in favor or speaking to Hope, who couldn't quite make up his mind if he should be laughing or exasperated. "Think we can get some service around here? We're, uh, kind of gross."

Hope invited them back into the main building and into an elevator. "There are suites a couple hundred floors down. I'll let you use mine," he explained as they stepped in, and the ride down was uneventfully comfortable.

Like a gentleman, Noel gave Serah free reign of the shower first while Hope dialed for some alternative outfits the two could use until their own clothes were laundered. A worker delivered the spares without question and waited until Serah had reached a flailing arm out of the washroom for the clothes and dressed, and he also waited until Noel took her place and caught his discarded clothes before they hit the ground when he tossed them carelessly through a crack in the door. With Hope's instructions to bring both their outfits back once they were clean the man left, and Hope was told to settle down and listen to their most recent adventure by an eager moogle.

The tale concluded by the time Noel thudded his fist against the washroom door for assistance (and Hope brought his temporary outfit over quickly, because the suite's doors were not as powerful as those on the floors above, and were really just for privacy). He stalked out into the main room soon after, looking much happier to be refreshed and not covered in ash, dirt, and humiliation. Hope's lips were sealed, but he caught the fidget in Serah's shoulders as she struggled to contain the urge to laugh herself silly, the scenario fresh in her mind.

The deliveryman hadn't returned yet, so the three plus moogle stayed seated on the plush, white couches (rather, Hope and Serah did; Noel was unbelievably pleased with the armchair as Mog floated in lazy circles above their heads). Hope had nothing to share because nothing had changed in the short stretch of time they'd been gone from this pocket in time, so he asked, "What were you guys up to? Any luck finding any graviton cores?"

Serah sucked on her bottom lip before shaking her head. "Not yet. We're gonna have to go back into the Historia Crux" - Hope had a vague idea what in the world she meant by that, but kept politely quiet - "and try that time period again. There's definitely one there!"

Her enthusiasm didn't radiate over to Noel, who only sighed as he sunk further into the chair. The plain white top and loose pants didn't suit him, the outfit too blank (but for some reason the color fit Serah wonderfully, as though the brightness reflected her hopeful personality), and he was beginning to look unhappy again. "But we can't go back yet. We jumped back here because we knew this time period was safe."

"Oh?"

With a grunt that told Hope he'd rather not move, Noel pushed himself from the chair and walked towards his and Serah's travel bags and pouches nestled by the wall, digging around until he pulled out what looked like splinterred bone. He spun it deftly in his hand, frowned, and pointed the jagged edge towards Hope's inquisitive gaze. "The Flame Fossil's busted up big time. I can't fight."

The gravity descended on Hope in an instant. Over the years his own weapons had worn down, even when he took care of them in the way Lightning had always instructed, and needed replacing, but they'd never shattered to pieces in the middle of a fire fight. Serah had said that the Sunleth Waterscape was treacherous no matter what time they managed to pop in at, so for that reliable weapon to give out at all must have been just as spine-chilling as it was dangerous. "We've got shops that should stock what you'll need," he told them both, inwardly surprised that he was speaking so seriously. Everyone was safe and in one piece. "If you need any gil, I can—"

Noel held up his free hand up to stop him, face pulled into an expression of mock offense. "We've got gil, no worries. But, uh, that's not the only reason we're here."

Serah smiled triumphantly. "Taking out two moblins with one spell," she informed him. With a nod, Noel, chucked the splintered part of his weapon back into their arsenal before pulling out something darkly gleaming from one of the pouches that belonged to Serah. "Didn't you say something about using a Chaos Cystal to make a phenomenal weapon, Hope?"

Hope never thought he'd see one, honestly, so rare and lost in the twisted annals of time. Just watching the crystal hovering above Noel's outstretched hand gave some of Hope's restless fears rest and he felt a powerful smirk pull at his lips. "You guys are really something else. Hand that over and I can get started on forging you something unstoppable, Noel."

Once the Chaos Crystal was in his hands, he headed out of the suite, mentioning that he'd be at the very peak of the building, in the large theater, when they were prepared to go back to Sunleth. He heard Noel tease, "Sorry, Serah, but you get to stick with Mog's Starseeker. I hope you won't get too jealous."

"I'm not jealous! Mog's the best!"

He chuckled as he made his way back to the elevator. He stopped, though, when he realized in his other hand he was still fumbling the little brown crystal between his fingers, and no one had called him out on it.

* * *

The doors slid and Hope dragged his eyes away from the charming set of blades on a table extended from the wall as the hovers passed by overhead. Serah and Noel walked in, dressed as normally as they could for their time solving paradoxes through the expanses of time. He waved them over and he tried not to smile at Noel's excited pace. Serah, choosing to walk slower, was distracted by Alyssa on the other side of the room, and made a motion to Hope that she was going to see what the other girl wanted.

"What've ya got for me?" Noel asked in a heartbeat.

Hope felt like Snow as he made a great, exaggerated gesture to the table. "I call it the Odinblade after the one who gave aid to a great warrior. Make them both proud when you use it, okay?"

He'd modeled the twin blades similarly to Noel's Flame Fossil, letting the smaller blade slide snugly into the larger. It was a quick draw, too, and Noel was pleased when the fit was perfect as he gave it a few tests. "It's weighted right and I don't feel like I'm gonna lose one if I'm not careful. And I can hear it sing, Hope, that it's ready for battle, and it's voice is the prettiest thing I've ever heard."

Hope shrugged a shoulder, pleased with himself and Noel's appreciation. "Let's just say I know how important it is not to lose a fight that could end the world. The Odinblade won't let you down, so take it with you from now on and into the final battle."

"You've got nothing to worry about. I'm never letting this go."

Hope stuck his hand into his pocket suddenly, once again remembering the crystal that he hadn't once let go of, and he couldn't let this opportunity pass him by. "Hey, Noel, what's this for?" He displayed it for the hunter to see, Noel giving a tiny sound when he recognized it.

"I completely forgot I gave that to you," Noel admitted. He straightened up, attaching the Odinblade to the Flame Fossil's old harness. "An old friend of mine gave that to me once. She said that one day I'd get to see it glimmer in the sunlight and I'd be awestruck."

"And were you?" Hope asked, recalling how the tiny, insignificant thing had awed him.

It was Noel's turn to shrug. "I've yet to see it shine. In my future, there's not much of a sun left—it's always overcast."

"But since you came to the past, you've had ample time to—"

"I forgot," Noel shrugged again. "I was a little preoccupied."

Hope could understand that. "So why did you give it to me?"

"You looked kinda gloomy," Noel replied. "I wondered if there was something I could do to help, and that was when I remembered that...my friend gave that to me in order to cheer me up once. It gave me hope that sometime I'd see the sun for real one day. So I just kinda thought it'd help you out."

Hope stared down at the unassuming brown crystal. He'd been unaware that the little thing had carried such a strong wish in it. He glanced over, saw Alyssa passing Serah a potion bottle, before he turned his attention back to Noel. "...Did you wanna try it out?"

"Huh?"

"Get outside, Noel," Hope commanded before he slapped the crystal into his hand, gloves clapping together painlessly, before he escaped to the other side of the theater to Alyssa's side.

* * *

**One day I promise I will write more FFXIII-2 things that don't revolve around Hope, but for now I think I'll stick to it. **

**Also, liberties with the storyline, yeah!**

**And if you guys want it badly enough, maybe I'll write out the flanbanero episode.**


End file.
